Martin Luther King Jr. was an American Baptist minister, activist, and leader of the African-American Civil Rights Movement.He was married to Coretta Scott King with whom he had four kids. Martin Luther King jr. was assassinated on April 4, 1968. Before he died, he had high hopes for this country and it’s sad he didn’t get to see how he impacted the U.S. In his “I Have a Dream” speech he uses rhetoric in many different ways to get the audience to agree with him and believe what he believes. In King’s speech, he uses more pathos than anything else. In the beginning of “I Have a Dream”, he says “the Negro still lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity.” he is making a connection by saying emotional words such as “lonely” or “vast”. HE is basically saying that black people are all by themselves because of their color. Later on he say s”Some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells.” Which here he is talking to people who have been in jail which can be emotional. When he makes it personal by saying “We can never be satisfied as long as or children are stripped of their selfhood and robbed of their dignity by a sign saying “For Whites Only”, he makes it about family. He is trying to get the white peoples to realize that things are hard for black people. There are …show more content…
is very good at persuading his audience in many different ways. He uses logos in the fourth paragraph when he says “This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the “unalienable Rights” of “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” By stating what the note is guaranteeing, it is for a fact that’s what it says. He does this again by saying “America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which had come back marked ‘insufficient funds, And so we have came to cash this check.” The listener understands and relates to getting bad checks while the white get good
Martin Luther King Jr was a activist that was known for his famous speech “I had a dream”, he changed the lives for many people and helped changed the future. The world renowned Baptist minister and social activist had a massive impact on the American civil rights movement from the mid 1950’s until his assassination in 1968. Martin Luther King Jr was born on the 15th of January, 1929 in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, known as Michael Luther King Jr and was than assassinated on the 4th of April 1968 in Memphis, Tennessee, United States and has still left a footprint on many people
Dr. Martin Luther King Junior was an excellent speaker and activist during the civil rights movement throughout 1954-1968. The civil rights movement was a time of racial injustice and unfair treatment towards people of different races. During that time many African Americans boycotted and protested against the unfair treatment in America at that point in time. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was one of these people who protested to create a difference in the community. The goal of these marches and protests that he led were to change the feelings of the government and the people’s feelings about racial injustice. However, Martin Luther King was assassinated on April 4th, 1968 because he stood up for what was right. He was though able to do many
In 1963 Martin Luther King Jr. delivered the speech “I have a Dream,” in attempt to end all racism throughout the United States. Baptist minister and Civil Rights Activist, Martin played a pivotal role in ending the legal segregation of African American Citizens throughout the south and other areas of the nation. Not only was he a part of that, but he also was a part of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and he fought for African Americans voting rights in 1965. King craved for a nation that accepted each other for their personality, rather than their skin color. He wanted all men to be equal, as the Bible says to do. He took the first step in achieving his goals and voiced his opinion to everyone who had the ears to listen.
The speech “I have a dream was very influential and had many great truths in it it showed that as a nation we should come together and follow our promise of freedom and liberty, “They were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir this note was a promise to all men,yes,black men as well.” (Martin Luther King I have a dream page 261-262 paragraph 4) in that line of text for i have a dream martin luther king took a very pathos appeal because he needed to get people excited, he needed to stir up emotions to help people bring up issues and be proud of their beliefs. In the speech i have a dream there
Logos appeals to the logic of the audience. Dr. uses a lot of metaphors in his speech, when Dr. King says, “America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked “insufficient funds”.” (King, 1963). He is basically saying that America is not holding true to the constitution, because all men are supposed to be equal. African Americans are not equal and are still suffering. They marched to Washington to cash their checks so they would be treated as an equal. Another metaphor used is when king says, “Now is the time to open the doors of opportunity to all of God’s children” (king, 1963). This just says that it is time for all people to have the same opportunities. The final example of logos is when Dr. King uses what is happening in Mississippi. He states, “I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of justice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice”. (king, 1963). King is comparing oppression and injustice to sweltering heat, justice and freedom to an oasis. By using logos, he was able to use metaphors to make the speech easier to understand. The black audience was able to relate and the white audience was able to better understand what was
King uses in his speech is Pathos, which is the appeal to someone 's emotions or beliefs. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. presented a strong feeling towards African-American people about how they were treated as equal individuals “But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination” (King par. 3). Another example of pathos that Dr. King used was when he uses vocabulary and phrases, such as “I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream” (King par. 12). He uses the appeal of emotion, especially the word of choice and diction to let his audience’s know what he would like to see in the
Martin Luther King Jr. was one of the most important voices of the American civil rights movement, which worked for equal rights for all. He was famous for using nonviolent resistance to overcome racism and injustice. Martin Luther King, Jr. was born Michael King in 1929 in Atlanta,Georgia. He was named after his father, who was a Baptist minister. When Michael King, Sr. took over his relative's church, he changed his name to Martin Luther, after a prominent German religious leader. Thereafter, he changed his son’s name to martin as well.. His mother, Alberta Williams King, was an accomplished organist and choir leader. Michael, who was born second of his parents’ three children, had an elder sister called Willie Christine King and a younger
In both speeches rhetorical appeals were used. In the speech “I have a dream, “pathos was used to connect emotionally with his audience. Blacks are described as being “crippled” by the “manacles of segregation” and “chains of discrimination.” The use of such diction, possess an emotional tone causing pathos. The use of these words make the audience think that blacks are being punished for some crime they committed, but the “crime” is just the fact that they are black. King states while everyone in the world are in an “ocean of material prosperity,” blacks are on a “lonely island of poverty.” This
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. addressed the United States of America with his, “I Have a Dream” speech August 28, 1963. Dr. King’s speech addressed the issue of segregation and discrimination of the African American race. During this time America was segregated, anywhere people went there were “whites only” or “blacks only” signs. Some places were even only for whites. This speech had a huge impact on the segregation faced by African Americans in the United States. There is a strong use of pathos in this speech because it is a very emotional subject, along with logos to let people know segregation and discrimination can be fixed and should have never happened.
In his speech, he proclaimed a free and better nation of equality and that both races, the blacks and the whites, should join together to achieve common ground and to support each other instead of fighting against one another. King’s vision is that all people should be judged by their “personality and character and not by their color of skin”(‘I Have a Dream”). All points he made in his speech were so strong that lots of people were interested in his thoughts. He dreamed of a land where the blacks could vote and have a reason to vote and where every citizen would be treated the same and with the same justice. He felt that all Americans should be equal and that they should forget about injustice and segregation. He wanted America to know what the problems were and wanted to point out the way to resolve these problems.
In Martin Luther King’s I Have a Dream speech, King makes use of an innumerable amount of rhetorical devices that augment the overall understanding and flow of the speech. King makes the audience feel an immense amount of emotion due to the outstanding use of pathos in his speech. King also generates a vast use of rhetorical devices including allusion, anaphora, and antithesis. The way that King conducted his speech adds to the understanding and gives the effect that he wants to rise above the injustices of racism and segregation that so many people are subjected to on a daily basis. Throughout King’s speech, he uses the rhetorical mode, pathos, to give the audience an ambience of strong emotions such as sympathy.
The diction leads blacks to abandon the past, the anaphora instills in their minds a memorable cause, and the metaphors lastly fabricate the necessary movement toward freedom and equality through vivid imagery. Such a remarkable speech outshines others of the movement, for its triumph is contributed not only to its zealous vocalization but also to its well-written text. A catalyst for the racial revolution of the era, King’s speech is continued to be used as inspiration in resolving modern complications. The man who declared, “I have a dream,” is thus memorialized for having envisioned righteousness to become part of the American
Martin Luther King Jr. was the most influential leader of the American Civil Rights Movement as he fought for the freedom of African Americans. King’s most influential speech is his “I Have a Dream” given on August 28, 1963.1 King himself was a man whom thousands of people admired. Martin Luther King Jr. uses an expressive tone in his speeches by using powerful imagery to his audience, reminding them of the challenges facing them and defeating racism. Martin Luther King Jr. inspired others to take action, lead by example, as shown in his speeches and promoted non-violence as a method for change. To begin with, Martin Luther King Jr. was born in Atlanta, Georgia on January 15, 1929.2 His father, Martin Luther King Sr., who was a pastor, and his mother Alberta, who was a schoolteacher, raised both King and his two siblings.3 King was very religious because the three generations of men, starting with his great-grandfather, were all preachers.
The speech is based on having a dream, that one day the world will be a better place for African Americans and they will be respected and treated equally. The speech is powerful to a wider audience because it uses specific language features to express in detail his values and beliefs on the civil rights movements. King articulates to the African Americans that they should be able to live freely, within a place of limited discrimination and be who they are and not be treated disrespectfully. He mentions that they are isolated from the world around them, and that they are beaten for the colour of their skin. The speech portrays a powerful message, aimed at the racial and injustice time that all African Americans had to go through.
King begins his speech by referencing important historical documents such as the Constitution of the United States and the Emancipation Proclamation. This is emphasized when he states, ”Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation...But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free”. Which shows how even though the Emancipation Proclamation freed the African Americans from slavery, they still are not free because of segregation. He then transitions to the injustice and suffering that the African Americans face. He makes this